Get Involved and Gain Influence in Defining Open Standards and Certifications

Being a member of The Open Group gives organizations early access to the latest information and developments regarding open standards and best practices, and enables them to participate in The Open Group’s highly influential Forums and Work Groups. We provide a collaborative, vendor-neutral environment where member representatives can:

Network with a world-class community of peers, experts and industry leaders

Have early access to information on industry developments

Gain insight for future decisions from both major customers and suppliers of IT

The Open Group Forums

All member organizations of The Open Group are entitled to participate in one or more of The Open Group Forums — vendor-neutral environments where members share knowledge and resources, and collaborate on developing open technology standards and certifications. Covering a range of technical, business, legal and regulatory issues, each Open Group Forum addresses a specific functional area, and is fully supported by The Open Group’s resources.

The Open Group Work Groups

The Open Group Work Groups are vendor-neutral environments where members share knowledge and resources, and collaborate on developing open IT standards and certifications. Formed at the request of at least two member organizations, most Work Groups are open to all members in addition to their Open Group Forum entitlements, and there is no limit to the number of Work Groups members may join.

Consortia

Thinking about setting up an industry consortium either to establish a new industry standard or to help develop greater market take-up of an existing standard? The Open Group can help.

Based on its tried and tested governance and consensus management processes, The Open Group can maximise the effectiveness of industry consortia via a path to market impact through standards, certification and testing. The Open Group consortia process can help accelerate the standards development process within a legally protected environment that supports consensus.

Overview

Membership Benefits

The Open Group is a global consortium that enables the achievement of business objectives through technology standards.

The Open Group offers its member organizations an effective platform to influence the competitive environment, advance their companies’ positions, and achieve enduring returns on their technology and enterprise investments.

The Open Group’s members share a vision of Boundaryless Information Flow™ that enable’s access to integrated information, within and among enterprises, based on open standards and global interoperability. While customers and suppliers work together toward this objective, their membership in The Open Group yields distinctive benefits for individuals and their organizations.

The development of open technology standards addresses both technical and business issues.

Technology standards includes open systems architecture, IT, interoperable process control and sensor systems.

Customers | Technology End-users:

• Stay ahead of the curve by knowing what standards are coming

• Gain better understanding of and compliance with standards

• Protect against obsolescing current investments

• Get insight for future decisions from major customers and suppliers of technology

• Share lessons learned and best practices

• Avoid expensive and futile paths of action

• Know where suppliers are going to ensure compliance and ease integration

Suppliers | Technology Vendors:

• Influence the competitive marketplace and advocate for their position

• Gain insight for future decisions from major customers and suppliers of technology

• Reduce time-to-market

• Have access to skilled talent outside your organization

Vendors and suppliers also benefit from having access to major technology buyers. The combined purchasing power of the technology buyers that are members of The Open Group exceeds USD $50 billion per year. That currently represents about 25% of the total technology purchasing power worldwide.

Membership FAQs

What are the entitlements of membership?

Membership entitles you to participate in The Open Group’s highly influential Forums, Work Groups, and Consortia. Each of these focuses on a specific functional area, and provides an objective environment for member representatives to develop practical standards that drive operational efficiency and solve business problems in an open, timely and predictable manner.

Members Benefits of The Open Group:

• Take an active role in shaping the future of open standards

• Obtain early access to the latest information on technology standards and industry developments

• Network with a world-class community of peers, experts and industry leaders

• Gain insight for future decisions from both major customers and suppliers of IT

• Can work collaboratively on mutually beneficial projects

• Grow professionally, and enhance their credibility as leaders within their organization

Resources

• Gain access to the Members-only section of The Open Group website, which contains copies of all specifications, best practice guides, and other publications from The Open Group, as well as extensive library of relevant working papers and documents

• Receive member newsletters containing updates about the activities of The Open Group, and participate in regular briefing sessions

• Participate as a reviewer in all consensus review cycles relating to specifications and guides produced by Forums and Work Groups

• Participate in Birds-of-a-Feather sessions, which investigate potential new areas of work

• Member pricing for The Open Group events

Community

• Opportunities to exchange ideas, expertise, and lessons learned with leaders and staff of other organizations like yours---both in person and online

• A direct connection to peers, consultants, and industry partners through The Open Group's Forums and Work Groups

• Access to members-only discussion groups in a variety of topics, where you and your team can seek practical answers and solutions from peers who have faced similar challenges.

What are the differences between Silver, Gold and Platinum organizational membership levels?

Silver Members are entitled to join one Forum of their choice. They may opt for a second Silver Membership if they wish to join another Forum, and may vote for a representative to the Governing Board

Gold Members are entitled to join any number of Forums open to all members of The Open Group (see list here), and may vote for a representative to the Governing Board

Platinum Members are entitled to join any number of Forums (see list here). They may also join Forums reserved for Platinum Members only, such as The Open Group Business Forum, and have the right to take a leadership position within The Open Group and the industry with the Platinum entitlement to place company representation on The Governing Board.

If my organization joins as a Silver, Gold or Platinum member, do we have entitlements in one of The Open Group Consortia?

No. The Open Group FACE Consortium and The Open Group SOSA Consortium are gated to U.S. organizations and the U.S. persons who work for them. While their operations are based on The Open Group Standards Process, they have separate membership agreements. and terms and conditions based on the nature of their work.

Does The Open Group have an individual membership, or do I need to join as an organization?

Only organizations can become a member of The Open Group. Membership is available to supplier companies, end-user customer companies, academic and research institutions, and government agencies. Individuals can participate under their organization's membership.

How do you define an organization as Academic in order to qualify for membership?

The Open Group Academic Membership is available only to research and teaching staff of academic faculty at accredited colleges and universities. Our intention is to enable Academic Members to collaborate on projects that will help to further the IT profession and encourage the development and adoption of open standards. Students cannot participate. Fees: The cost of Academic membership is $1000 for a 1-year period.

Can Government agencies join as members?

Yes. Government agencies with less than 200 staff can become members for $2,500. Government agencies with 200 or more staff can join for $7,500.

There is also a Government Enterprise Architecture Work Group, a joint Work Group between the Architecture Forum and ArchiMate® Forum. The objective of this Work Group is to develop solutions (open standards, best practices, guides, reference architectures, etc.) that will be useful to the Government EA community and to provide a supportive, shared learning environment for Government EAs.

If I have a product or people certification from The Open Group, does that provide me with membership entitlements?

No. A professional certification issued by The Open Group does not include membership in The Open Group. Certification and membership are separate. You can be certified by The Open Group but not be a member representative of The Open Group.

The Open Group professional certification programs are designed to assess professional knowledge, skills, achievements and competencies for various aspects of skills development, such as, TOGAF®, ArchiMate®, Open FAIR™ and IT4IT™.

My organization is listed as a member of The Open Group. How can I participate?

If you are an employee of an organization that is a member of The Open Group (check member list here), then you may be eligible to participate as a member once you register online.

I'm a member of the Association of Enterprise Architects. Does the AEA membership provide any membership entitlements in The Open Group?

No. Membership in the AEA does not include membership entitlements in The Open Group.

Individuals can join the global Association of Enterprise Architects, a professional organization open to anyone interested in Enterprise Architecture. The goals of the AEA are to increase job opportunities for all members and increase their market value by advancing professional excellence.

Forums

Take an active role in leading the development of open standards

All member organizations of The Open Group are entitled to participate in one or more of The Open Group Forums — vendor-neutral environments where members share knowledge and resources, and collaborate on developing open IT standards and certifications.

Collectively addressing a comprehensive range of technical, business, legal and regulatory issues, each Open Group Forum addresses a specific functional area, and is fully supported by The Open Group resources. Members’ active participation in The Open Group Forums result in the beneficial exchange of best practices with experts and peers, professional growth, and influence in the competitive environment.

The number of Forums in which member representatives may participate depends on their organizations’ level of membership:

Silver Members are entitled to join one Forum and may opt for a second Silver Membership if they wish to join another Forum

Gold Members are entitled to join any number of Forums open to all members of The Open Group (see list below)

Platinum Members are entitled to join any number of Forums from the list and may also join Forums reserved for Platinum Members only, which will usually be during the initial phase of such Forum’s life

• ArchiMate® Forum

• Architecture Forum

• IT4IT™ Forum

• Open Platform 3.0™ Forum

• Open Process Automation™ Forum

• Open Subsurface Data Universe™ Forum

• Real-time & Embedded Systems Forum

• Security Forum

• Trusted Technology Forum

• Platform Base Work Group

Work Groups

Take an active role in leading the development of open standards

The Open Group Work Groups are vendor-neutral environments where members share knowledge and resources, and collaborate on developing open IT standards and certifications. A Work Group can be formed at the request of at least two member organizations, within a Forum, or open to all members in addition to their Forum entitlements. A Work Group of the Governing Board may be formed to address a topic of strategic importance to The Open Group as a whole. There is no limit to the number of Work Groups members may join.

A Work Group within a Forum will develop a particular topic within the Forum's overall area. A Work Group open to all Open Group members can incubate and explore broad-reaching areas of interest, which extend across The Open Group’s main Forum activities and areas of focus.

Members who actively participate in The Open Group Work Groups will benefit from the exchange of best practices with experts and peers, professional growth, and influence in the competitive environment. The Open Group Work Groups welcome the active participation of all members.

Consortia

The Open Group's Consortia are formally constituted as part of The Open Group, and managed by Open Group staff, but operate with a much higher degree of autonomy than The Open Group Forums.

The Consortia support the development of Open Group testing and certification programs, and produce deliverables that need to be approved via the formal Open Group review process if they are to carry The Open Group name. For this reason, Consortia may be related to specific internal Open Group programs for review and approvals purposes.